Tan Kiat How
Singapore
“(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Thank you, Mr Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the policy objective of the Speak Mandarin Campaign, and we have remained consistent and united on this objective over the years. The question is our measures – how might we show some flexibility when it comes to movie screenings?”
“Sir, I can take the Member's question first, about the institutional arrangement. IMDA works very closely with different Government agencies including the NHB. In fact, we work closely on films, the classification of films. So, there is no need for an explicit institution arrangement as they are already doing so.”
“These are the primary objectives, but we will continue to see how we can think about meaningful information for family members. I know family members when they put their loved ones in nursing homes, there is a range of factors they consider.”
“These are lessons we have learned and we will make sure that those lessons would be incorporated in our standard operating procedures in our approach next time. Lastly, I just want to thank the Member for coming by at least a few times to my constituency to speak to my merchants, the hawkers, the residents.”
“For example, there are no dialect restrictions for arts performances or content available on the Internet and online streaming services. On free-to-air television and radio, we believe that Mandarin should continue to be the mainstay.”
“If there is more demand, we will discuss it with the film distributor and see how we can provide additional flexibility. But we will take a review as it comes along and it is certainly something for which we will speak to all members, industry partners, community partners about, and take their views on board.”
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“For example, one of the identified solutions is a lift installation robot. This will not only reduce safety risks for workers but will also ensure consistent workmanship and quality across all installation works. It will also adopt more advanced prefabrication techniques and technologies and prefabricate more components, such as Mechanical and Electrical systems. This is expected to reduce the manpower required for such activities by up to 45% and minimise future disruptions to the alliance's supply chain. I commend CapitaLand, UOL and their respective partners on leading the way. Their commitment to working together will not only help uplift their respective value chains, but also push the boundaries for the rest of the sector. Mdm Chair, in Mandarin, please. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Although our Built Environment (BE) sector faces headwinds, it is recovering steadily. Manpower shortages have eased and construction material costs have largely stabilised. Projected construction demand over the next few years will remain stable. Most of the demand will come from the public sector, including the construction of new HDB flats, healthcare facilities, the Cross Island MRT Line and Changi Airport T5 Terminal. I thank all our partners in the BE sector for working side by side with us over the past few years to overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Going forward, we must continue to work together to further transform the BE sector. First, we will launch the CORENET X electronic platform by the end of this year. This new platform will simplify the process of submitting building plans to regulators and reduce the time taken to obtain approvals.”
“This will be amongst the first in Singapore for the private sector. They have committed to sharing its experiences with the wider industry. BCA will work with them to develop standard collaborative contracting provisions, which the industry can then later reference and adopt. CapitaLand and its partners, including Woh Hup and Threesixty, will try out new contract provisions. This includes provisions that enable project parties to flag problems, like design deviations early and provide incentives for better performance. To resolve disputes in a more structured manner, the alliance also intends to establish a dispute resolution board, comprising senior management of key stakeholders. Taken together, these will better facilitate the smooth and timely delivery of projects, benefiting not just project parties, but the eventual building users too. This is one of the alliances being supported by the Growth and Transformation Scheme, or GTS, which Minister Desmond Lee spoke about at the Committee of Supply two years ago. We have set aside $90 million under the GTS to help establish alliances between developers, builders, consultants and other stakeholders. The idea is for these groups of firms to collaborate on multiple projects over time. In doing so, they can grow deeper capabilities and develop innovative approaches that can eventually benefit the entire ecosystem. Another alliance under the GTS is led by UOL. UOL and its partners, including United Tec, will focus on developing new capabilities to enhance construction productivity. To increase automation, the alliance plans to adopt robots for labour-intensive tasks, such as cleaning and installing building components. This can reduce required manpower by up to 40%.”
“In this regard, the Security of Payment Act, or SOPA has served to enable regular payments in the construction sector since 2005. The Public Sector Standard Conditions of Contracts (PSSCOC) also stipulates payment timeframes that all public agencies are required to abide by. For instance, agencies should certify the valuation of the Variation Order, or VO within 60 days of the completion of VO works and not the completion of the overall project. Agencies also should finalise the account within 30 days after the Defects Liability Period. But contractors can also do their part by providing the necessary documents in a timely manner, to facilitate evaluation and approval of payments. If there are specific project issues encountered by Mr Yip, BCA will be happy to follow up with the Member separately. However, I believe most industry stakeholders would very much prefer to resolve issues amicably rather than going to mediation or adjudication or even legal action. A promising approach to promote a more positive work culture is collaborative contracting. Collaborative contracting aligns the interests of all project parties towards shared project goals. This facilitates proactive project management and prompt resolution of claims before they escalate into major disputes or costs and can help tackle this issue of timely payment. We have seen encouraging successes in other jurisdictions. The Government is taking the lead to adopt collaborative contracting. There are at least 10 public sector projects that have piloted or will be piloting collaborative contracting. But we also need the private sector on board. I am happy to announce that an alliance led by CapitaLand will be piloting the collaborative contracting approach.”
“The next edition of the report will be published later this month on BCA's website. I encourage all building owners to study it and use it as a guide to improve your building's energy performance. Our efforts to transform into a world-class Built Environment (BE) sector will also create exciting job opportunities for our BE professionals. For instance, the push towards digitalisation and DfMA will change the nature of work in our sector. The push towards greater sustainability will also mean greater demand for green professionals. This is something Mr Xie Yao Quan mentioned too. And exciting new roles include energy and sustainability solutions architects, specialists in design for maintainability, solar engineers, facility management data analysts and many more exciting opportunities. So, I encourage all BE professionals to upskill and reskill yourselves so you can take full advantage of the new opportunities in the BE sector, both locally and abroad. BCA has been engaging industry stakeholders on how to prepare their workforce for the future. We will share more details when ready. We will also consider all suggestions on how to improve HR practices, as suggested by various Members earlier. Mr Chairman, I provided an update on the various transformation efforts across the building lifecycle. However, fundamental transformation of an industry sector is not just about using technology or improving work processes. Crucially, there is also a need to transform mindsets and culture – aspects which are often harder to do. At the most basic level, we must make sure that hygiene factors are met. This includes timely payment, as raised by Mr Yip Hon Weng.”
“Building owners who would like to undertake more extensive retrofits can also apply for grants under the Green Mark Incentive Scheme for Existing Buildings 2.0, which provides up to 50% co-funding for retrofitting works to achieve at least Green Mark Platinum standards. For a start, the regime will apply to the most energy-intensive commercial buildings, healthcare facilities, sports and recreation centres and institutional buildings with a Gross Floor Area of 5,000 square metres and above. BCA is consulting relevant stakeholders, including building owners, developers, energy auditors and professional associations. These stakeholders recognise the need for this regime as most buildings would unlikely undergo works to reduce energy consumption if such works were not made mandatory. BCA will continue to engage the industry on the implementation details. There will inevitably be extenuating circumstances or practical constraints for certain buildings to meet the requirements. And BCA will take this feedback into consideration. BCA will assure that building owners are notified early and have sufficient time to comply with the requirements. In the meantime, building owners who would like to know how the energy performance of their buildings compares to others can refer to BCA's building energy benchmarking report. Currently, this annual report provides a summary of the energy performance for each building typology and the individual energy performance data for commercial buildings. Starting this year, BCA will also provide individual energy performance data for healthcare facilities, sports and recreation centres and institutional buildings and identify them by name. Buildings will be ranked by energy performance amongst other buildings of similar typology.”
“With the hard work of industry partners, we are on track to meet these targets. We have greened close to 55% of our buildings, seen about 20% of our new buildings in the past year achieve Super Low Energy standards and achieved over 70% improvement in energy efficiency over 2005 levels for our best-in-class buildings. But collectively, we must intensify our greening efforts, to reach our national target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. In particular, we need to do more to green our existing stock of older buildings. These buildings may not have been designed with sustainability in mind or may not be operated or maintained efficiently. And this can result in significant energy wastage, sometimes more than a quarter of the buildings' overall energy use. Currently, BCA requires buildings that undergo major works or chiller retrofits to meet minimum energy performance requirements. This ensures that older buildings are upgraded to meet prevailing sustainability standards when they undertake extensive works. However, there is currently no requirement for building owners to improve their buildings' energy performance if they do not undertake such works. This is why we will introduce a new Mandatory Energy Improvement, or MEI regime by the end of 2024. 5.15 pm We will require the owners of buildings with poor energy performance to conduct an energy audit and implement measures to reduce energy consumption. These buildings will be required to maintain an improved level of energy performance over a stipulated period. These measures can include simple, cost-effective solutions, such as replacing faulty parts and sensors, or getting tenants to use energy saving lighting.”
“We require all new public sector developments, existing public sector buildings undergoing retrofitting works and developments on Government Land Sales sites to adopt best practices in designing for maintainability. This will reduce the workload of FM firms downstream. BCA is also working with agencies to drive greater adoption of Integrated Facilities Management, or IFM, and Aggregated Facilities Management, or AFM in their buildings. We will continue support the industry in this effort. We launched a $30 million grant last September to support the adoption of progressive FM procurement, processes and technologies. To date, about 20 companies have expressed interest and I encourage more firms to apply. I am very glad to see that many industry partners are also playing their part. The Singapore International Facility Management Association, or SIFMA, and the Trade Associations and Chambers of other FM related sectors, like Security and Landscaping have stepped up to explore potential collaboration projects to improve integration across the various FM disciplines. I commend them for their effort and look forward to partnering them to transform our FM sector including promulgating good practices like outcome-based contracting. Let me now turn to how we are transitioning towards a low-carbon Built Environment sector. In particular, we are stepping up efforts for buildings, which account for over 20% of Singapore's carbon emissions. I agree with Mr Xie Yao Quan, Ms Tin Pei Ling, Mr Don Wee and Mr Cheng Hsing Yao that we need to operate and maintain buildings more sustainably. Under the latest edition of the Singapore Green Building Masterplan, we set out three ambitious targets, or "80-80-80 in 2030".”
“Sam Lain halved the time taken for pipe laying work and was able to reduce the number of site workers from 12 to seven. With less manual and temporary work involved and fewer workers onsite, they can now carry out this work more safely, with less disruption to the public. Beyond deploying a single equipment to improve productivity for a specific task, Sam Lain has also invested in a suite of equipment, like silent piler machines and cranes to support different tasks related to underground and soil improvement works. Like Sam Lain, to achieve greater productive improvement, firms will need more fundamental redesigned work processes across multiple tasks and to make use of integrated systems instead of just a single machinery. Therefore, we have decided to raise the minimum capital expenditure value per application to $1 million to encourage firms to do so. The minimum capital expenditure per equipment will remain at $100,000. I encourage all firms to consider applying for the IAS. Finally, we agree with Mr Raj Joshua Thomas that transforming the way we operate and maintain buildings is key. Proper maintenance ensures that a development is safe, functional and enjoyable for its users and greatly reduces energy emissions. At the same time, the maintenance costs of a building over its lifetime can be around three to four times that of the initial construction costs. There is hence a need to manage these costs more effectively. The Government will do more to champion transformation in the FM industry. First, the public sector will take the lead for the buildings under our care.”
“Preliminarily, CORENET X could reduce the time for a firm to obtain approvals across the development process by 20% to 25%, which translates to an overall four to five months' worth of manpower savings – very significant. To date, almost 500 consultant firms have participated in various engagements and sharing sessions. So, I encourage the rest of the industry to find out more on the CORENET-X on our website. This contains numerous resources, webinars and links to various community of practices. I also encourage you to sign up for hands-on training courses that will be held throughout the year. Next, at the construction phase, we have been working to raise the adoption of DfMA technologies. The advantages were outlined by Mr Chong Kee Hiong earlier. This involves shifting construction off-site to more factory-like settings before being assembled on site. The benefits for such construction methods are numerous – there are productivity enhancements and better worker safety outcomes with fewer workers on-site. Residents in surrounding areas also benefit as less noise and dust is generated. I am pleased to share that the DfMA adoption rate for all new developments by GFA has increased from 44% in 2021 to 51% in 2022 and we are on track to meeting our target of 70% by 2025. To further support firms' productivity efforts, we will extend the Investment Allowance Scheme (IAS) for the construction industry for another five years, till 2028. This provides tax allowance for investments in advanced construction equipment. Over the last five years, the scheme has helped more than 60 firms make over $165 million worth of investments. One such company is Sam Lain Equipment Services Pte Ltd, which tapped on this scheme to purchase a pipe jacking machine.”
“I spoke to Ms Veni – the engineer behind the deployment of the solution at United Force Engineering. Traditionally, tasks and payments were tracked manually on spreadsheets. With the new software, Ms Veni and her team were able to automate several processes, like sending service reports to customers and tracking customer details. This has reduced their administrative workload and minimised human errors. This new tranche provides SMEs with funding support of up to 50% of the qualifying costs in adopting pre-approved digital solutions. So, I invite firms to apply when the new tranche is available from April 2023. Let me next outline how we are driving transformation at each phase of the building lifecycle. I agree with Mr Henry Kwek and Mr Yip Hon Weng that there are benefits to better upstream planning and coordination between industry stakeholders and the regulators. This is why we have been working with industry and agencies to develop a new regulatory process for building submissions. I would like to thank all the individuals, from industry and public sector agencies, who have contributed to this effort. This new process streamlines more than 20 existing touchpoints with agencies into three key submission gateways. We look forward to launching the digital platform that will implement this – CORENET X – by the end of this year. Users will be onboarded in phases and features will be rolled out progressively. The platform will leverage BIM to enhance collaboration between industry stakeholders and between industry stakeholders and regulators on the various submissions. It will also enable agencies to provide consolidated and coordinated responses to firms. A large project typically takes about three to five years from design to building completion.”
“Beyond HDB, we are partnering the industry on broader transformation efforts as part of the refreshed Build Environment Industry Transformation Map launched last September. We are taking step to transform every part of the building life cycle – from the planning and design phase, the construction phase, to the operations and maintenance phase of our buildings. One key enabler is digitalisation through the adoption of Integrated Digital Delivery or IDD. This is a "digital spine" linking project stakeholders throughout the building lifecycle. We have been making good progress. In 2022, 45% of all new developments by Gross Floor Area adopted IDD and we are on track to meet our target of 70% adoption by 2025. As part of our IDD efforts, we developed the Common Data Environment or CDE, which is a data standards for the industry. This ensures data compatibility and allows for seamless digital collaboration between project stakeholders. And we will continue to do more to support our SMEs in their digitalisation journey. I am happy to announce that BCA will launch a new $21 million tranche of the Productivity Solutions Grant or PSG. This scheme supports digital solutions that are tailored for the needs in the Build Environment sector and will complement the general digitalisation schemes that our SMEs can already tap on. The solutions supported include 3D modelling and automation of quantity surveying and valuation tasks. Under this new tranche, the scheme will support manpower training so that SMEs can equip their employees with the necessary skills to make full use of these digital solutions. One company that has benefited from this is United Force Engineering Pte Ltd, which tapped on the PSG to support the adoption of a Field Service Management software.”
“00 pm [Deputy Speaker (Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo) in the Chair] In addition to Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction, or PPVC, HDB also adopts Advanced Precast Concrete System, or APCS. APCS offers more opportunities for mechanisation and automation for large orders of prefabricated components. With these efforts, HDB has raised its site productivity by more than 25% compared to its 2010 levels. HDB is also investing in research and innovation to push the frontiers of construction productivity in Singapore. By 2030, HDB intends to achieve an overall 40% improvement in site productivity compared to its 2010 levels, which means, new flats get built faster, benefiting more Singaporeans earlier. To achieve this ambitious goal, HDB will pilot new initiatives via its Construction Transformation Project at Tengah Garden Waterfront I and II. For example, the flats will be built using a hybrid precast system made up of 3D and 2D components that are designed to be fabricated, transported and assembled more efficiently. This system will also benefit residents, as it will enable HDB to build beamless flats with higher headroom and provide residents with greater flexibility in configuring the layout of their flats. In addition to new builds, HDB has been exploring new ways to maintain public housing estates. For instance, HDB is trialing a new concrete spalling prevention system, called the Corrosion Retardant System. This forms a protective layer around the steel bars within the concrete to stop existing corrosion and prevent further spalling. The trial results have been promising so far. HDB is studying how this system can address concrete spalling issues, especially in the older estates.”
“Mr Chairman, the Built Environment sector is steadily recovering from COVID-19 and its associated disruptions. Manpower bottlenecks have eased, allowing contractors to catch up with delayed works. As of end-2022, the number of Construction Work Permit Holders have exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels. Price increases for construction materials like concrete and steel rebars seem to be moderating. Construction activities are almost back to pre-COVID-19 levels as well. Construction demand is expected to remain stable. For this year, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) estimates that the total construction demand will be between $27 billion and $32 billion. Over the next few years, the projected construction demand is expected to be between $25 billion and $32 billion – remaining steady and stable. The public sector will be the main contributor as we ramp up BTO supply, build more hospitals and healthcare facilities and enhance our public transportation networks with projects like the Cross Island MRT line. That said, we need to remain vigilant. There are many challenges and uncertainties ahead of us. That is why, even during COVID-19, we continued to push for sector transformation. The Government will lead by example. Mr Chong Kee Hiong had asked about HDB’s efforts. As the largest housing developer in Singapore, HDB plays a crucial leadership role in investing in innovation and promulgating good practices. HDB has been implementing a range of technologies in the designing and building of new flats, like Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA). Mr Chong will be pleased to note that, in fact, DfMA is used for all new HDB projects since 2021. 5.”
“We are working very closely with the media industry to create local intellectual property (IP) – "Made with Singapore" content that can travel to the rest of the world, helping our firms to use technology to produce content more efficiently and meet the more sophisticated needs of consumers around the world.”
“Firstly, I apologise for missing that question. In response to the question by the Member, indeed, we are supporting the global ambitions of our homegrown media companies, especially our homegrown media studios, by strengthening capabilities through close partnerships between them and the larger players in the industry like the MNCs and by encouraging them to adopt the latest technologies. One good example is the Capability Partnership Programme (CPP), which was launched in 2018 to facilitate collaboration between our local companies and reputable international media companies to bring "Made with Singapore" content to the world. I think we are very proud of many of our "Made with Singapore" content, for example, the recent "Ajoomma". The CPP has since benefited around 120 local media firms and over 830 media talents. As a next step, we will continue to strengthen this partnership between our media firms with global media studios. We also supporting our media firms in adopting technologies to raise production capabilities. I announced the $5 million Virtual Production Innovation Fund last year to encourage innovation and adoption. We will support virtual production produced short-form content. As part of the call for proposals, we received over 40 ideas in the recent call for proposal (CFP). We are evaluating them and IMDA will announce the results soon. We will also be launching a virtual production challenge, partnering with Epic Games. Shortlisted participants will undergo Epic Games training with funds supporting production of narrative-based content using their real-time 3D content tool engine, the Unreal Engine.”
“On whether MCI ought to look at this centrally and holistically, I mentioned in my earlier reply that we are indeed exploring ways to do so and we will consider how to do so effectively. The second is about more targeted advertising. That is something that we also try to do, targeting our campaign so that the messages reach the intended audience. It is not just about a more efficient use of the advertising money, but also it is more important to reach out to segments of Singaporeans to inform them of specific set of considerations that they need to have or need to think about for that specific programme. For example, I go back to COVID-19 vaccination. How do we target to reach seniors, especially those who may not speak English, may not even speak Mandarin or the vernacular languages but in dialects? How do you reach out to them? Targeted advertising in a way that resonates with them – this is something we were looking at. But at the same time, we also have to balance between being very personal and targeted, with personal privacy. I am sure Ms He and her colleagues have also due consideration of personal privacy and data protection. We try to be targeted and personalised but at same time protecting the privacy of the person. So, it is a balance but I agree with Ms He that this is something that we are looking at.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Ms He for her question and her suggestion. Actually, we are on the same page on this. For us, we do want to get the maximum return on investment (ROI) on the marketing spend and the advertising spend – not just on advertising and marketing, but in general, from all Government expenditure. Maybe just allow me to just elaborate on a couple of points that may be useful for Ms He. First, I spoke about the Government spending about 0.2% of our total expenditure on advertising and marketing. This is probably much lower than many private sector companies. It would probably be above 5% of their total sales, for big companies. This is just a benchmark. We are not trying to be like the big MNCs or private sector companies, but it is a sanity check for us to say that we are not overspending. Secondly, I mentioned earlier that every Ministry, as part of its programme budget – for example, Healthier SG, getting people to sign up and pre-enrol to have a general practitioner (GP) or in terms of encouraging people to have Mozzie Wipeouts to safeguard the neighbourhoods from dengue – every Ministry has its own set of outcomes they want to achieve for the programmes. Advertising is part of that overall budget. They will have to justify rigorously, evaluate the various options and justify those budgets internally. And they use a number of measures. I mentioned some just now for the digital media space, including impressions, clickthrough rates, cost per click, number of views and so on to measure how well those campaigns are doing. So, first and foremost, we are on the same page on this. That is something we will continue doing and I thank Ms He for her suggestion.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank the Member for asking a very pertinent question. Even as we support the digitalisation efforts of our SMEs, getting them to stay safe online is important consideration and priority. Cybersecurity is not just about individual firms. You may not be the target. You might be a consequence of an attack. Vulnerabilities exploited in one firm could affect many in the supply chain and many of their customer segments. The cybersecurity health plan will go a long way in encouraging SMEs to strengthen the cybersecurity posture. In addition to the cybersecurity health plan which I spoke about just now in my speech, the CSA has been working with industry associations and companies, on various efforts. For example, it launched the Cyber Essentials and the Cyber Trust marks last year to recognise enterprises which have adopted good cybersecurity measures that correspond to their risk profiles. These are visible indicators for enterprises to demonstrate to their suppliers, to their customers, that they have a certain level of cybersecurity measures in place, which in turn gives their business partners and customers the confidence and trust to transact with them. This enables enterprises to better differentiate themselves from other firms, their competitors and offering a competitive advantage ahead of their peers. This is an important point that I hope SMEs and firms can also consider. It is also how you signal to your business partners and your customers that you are differentiated from the rest.”
“Mr Chairman, let me just look at some of the ads and campaigns we have done during the COVID-19 pandemic – getting our seniors to go for their vaccination, telling people about the safe management protocols and so on. Even some of our campaigns which some Singaporeans may think are a little bit cheesy, for example, being kind to one another, making sure that you prevent dengue by preventing mosquito breeding in our homes. These are for making sure that Singaporeans understand the facts and make sure that we encourage good behaviour among Singaporeans. So, it benefits our community. I am not sure how Mr Perera thinks that it is not a good idea in getting more people to be kinder to another, to be more courteous to one another, to take care about the cleanliness and hygiene in our homes, to benefit our neighbours. On the MND's ads, it is about telling facts to Singaporeans about the BTO flats launches that are coming up, and some have worked examples of how they can apply the CPF grant; how they can use proximity grants when living near the parents – giving them information to make the best decision that they can. I really do not quite understand where Mr Perera is coming from. These are just facts to help Singaporeans make the best decision for themselves. And I am sure Singaporeans can do so.”
“Let me address the second question by Ms Tin. I will speak in Mandarin since she spoke in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Government uses various online and offline channels to disseminate information to different groups of audience, and about half of the advertising budget is used on digital platforms such as Mothership, SGAG, and other small-scale social media platforms. Many Government agencies will also engage KOLs, or influencers to advertise. Take Michelle Chong for example. Her online persona Ah Lian is very popular among the young. Ah Lian’s friendly image has helped many government agencies to reach out to people who were hard to reach, reminding them to be vigilant against online scams. Local netizens are very sharp. If they feel that the influencers are purely advocating for the Government, they would not be interested.”
“I will. Thank you, Mr Chairman, for your indulgence. COVID-19 has taught us that public communication is crucial to maintaining high public trust in the Government. These made a difference to Singaporeans and we take this public trust seriously. I would like to emphasise that Government Ministries' spending or advertising is guided by impartiality. Campaigns by Government agencies are for the purpose of informing, or educating the public, Government Ministries are mindful that their advertising must not be towards a political end in Singapore and we take this seriously. Let me conclude. Mr Chairman, creating a bright digital future for Singapore is at the heart of MCI's work. Minister Josephine Teo spoke about building a more inclusive and safer digital space for all. Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary covered the next bound of our digital infrastructure, and research and innovation. I touched on empowering our businesses and workforce to seize opportunities in the growing Digital Economy. These efforts help us build a digital Singapore, where opportunities are open to all; where everyone can access basic needs and lead fulfilling and dignified lives – a home that we and our future generations can be proud of. Together, I am confident that our efforts will enable Singaporeans to thrive in a digital future and take Singapore forward.”
“There is a reason why MND proactively puts out facts and figures, including BTO launches, the median prices of BTO flats, so that all Singaporeans, especially young Singaporeans, know about the pipeline of BTO flats coming up and make the best decision that they can, based on available information. These ads show factually, for example, the median price of a 4-room BTO flat in a non-mature estate is about $347,000 before grants. This information helps our Singaporeans make the best decision that they can and will reassure them that public housing is available and affordable. This is in the public interest. There is no point made in the MND infographic to get Singaporeans to feel good about the Government. But it is the first time that I am being told that you feel good after looking at our MND infographic and I thank Mr Perera for feeling that way. I am sure my MND colleagues and HDB colleagues who are working very hard to make sure that they build BTO flats, clear the backlog, I think they appreciate it. So, thank you very much for feeling good about it. Mr Perera referred to SGAG. SGAG ads show paid partnership. This is already being done. Ministries currently track the industry performance metrics to evaluate their campaigns. Additionally, MCI also requires Ministries to evaluate the effectiveness of their campaigns. MCI does this for MCI-led advertisements, but MCI does not yet have a system to enable centralised tracking and we are exploring the best way to achieve it. 5.00 pm Mr Chairman, could I seek your indulgence for a few more minutes, please?”
“Members may recall the COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, like "Get your shot, Steady Pom Pi Pi" featuring Phua Chu Kang and "Pak Jiam Buay" by our getai celebrities. We expect Government's spending on advertising to come down after COVID-19. Respective Ministries are better placed to assess their advertising approach based on the outcomes that they seek to achieve. Ministries have to rigorously evaluate their advertising budgets and be accountable for their programmes. In response to Ms He Ting Ru's point, advertising is typically part of a broader programme and effort by the Ministry and its outcomes should also be evaluated against whether those programmes and initiatives have met the needs or desired outcomes. That is how we should see the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, not just looking at the specific advertising programmes. In October 2018, MCI introduced a whole-of-Government demand aggregation contract for media buying for advertisement. This enhances value-for-money for the Government as a whole. At the end of the day, Government's advertising spend is to ensure that all Singaporeans can make full use of the Government's many schemes and programmes. Mr Perera referred to the Ministry of National Development (MND)'s print advertisement on accessible and affordable BTOs. Ms He Ting Ru also asked whether such ads are necessary and are they evaluated for effectiveness. First, let me say that we appreciate that during this period, coming out of COVID-19, that Singaporeans are feeling anxious about the availability and affordability of BTOs. I fully empathise with these Singaporeans.”
“So, the Code sets out how the advertising should be conducted but false claims or misleading claims of the product will be dealt with under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act Next, let me turn to the questions by Ms Janet Ang, Mr Leon Perera and Ms He Ting Ru who asked about Government advertising. The Government is not unique in spending on advertising to promote awareness to the public. Many companies advertise to ensure that their brands reach their intended audiences. However, unlike private companies which can choose their target segments for marketing, the Government has to ensure that our messages reach out to all Singaporeans. The Singapore public also expects the Government to do its utmost to reach them via the channels and languages which they are comfortable with, such as vernacular languages, including dialects. Many Singaporeans, like our parents' and grandparents' generation, do not speak English but they are just as Singaporeans as all of us. And we want to make sure that they fully benefit from all the Government programmes and initiatives that we roll out. But the Government does this prudently. We use established industry metrics, including impressions, click-through rate, cost-per-click, and number of views for digital media advertising. For print, radio and Free-to-Air television advertising, surveys are conducted to measure metrics like message recall. Last year, the Government spent between $175 million and $200 million or around 0.2% of total Government expenditure on advertising. Government's advertising spend increased during COVID-19. This was necessary to keep the public informed on the pandemic crisis as it unfolded and the Government's responses.”
“In just six months, leading employers have committed 500 good opportunities for our ITE and polytechnic graduates. Mr Ihsan Nursaqif is one such beneficiary. He initially studied information technology (IT) at ITE and then, later on cyber and digital security at Temasek Polytechnic. He is now doing a work-study degree in Applied Computing at the Singapore Institute of Technology. At every step, he is supported by his employer, NCS, as part of its Fusion programme. The TIP Alliance will continue to create more pathways for others like Mr Ihsan, through internships, apprenticeships and other programmes. Let me now turn to questions by Mr Leon Perera who asked about greenwashing. It can take many forms, but most commonly refers to the act of making misleading claims that products are more environmentally sound than they are. This is fundamentally an issue of false and misleading claim by a firm on its product, for example, how effective the product or how safe the product is. This is an area that the Government is concerned as well. These issues are taken under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act or CPFTA in short. The relevant authorities and Ministries will study these. But let me speak from MCI's perspective since Mr Perera filed the cut with MCI. From MCI's perspective, we work very closely with the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) which is an industry body that guides how advertising of products should be conducted through the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice (SCAP). For example, the Children's Code for Advertising F&B products guides advertisers to avoid promoting unhealthy consumption habits or irresponsibly pressuring children to buy.”
“Employers are guided to redesign jobs, and upskill or reskill their tech workforce, to access these emerging job roles. On our part, IMDA will appoint training partners to develop reskilling programmes for these areas. One example is 5G mobile technology. IMDA appointed the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to set up the 5G Academy together with telcos and other companies. Since 2020, the 5G Academy has trained around 10,000 professionals, exceeding the initial target of 5,000. Mr Mohamed Najib is a good example. He is a product executive who joined Singtel in 2015. Through the 5G Academy, he was able to gain relevant 5G and cyber security skills to future proof his career. He now leverages his skills to enhance the security and performance of Singtel's products. We all need to shift our mindset to support Singaporeans like Mr Najib to fully realise the potential. But tech employers still prefer university graduates. One study found that 38% of hirers expected applicants to have a Bachelor's Degree for an entry-level position. Firms are missing out a good pool of capable tech talent at a time when there is a global shortage. Furthermore, success involves more than just academic qualifications, but it is the hard and soft skills, like technical skills, attitude at the workplace and the ability to work in teams. This is also aligned with our effort to strengthen the social compact. We want to give every Singaporean the best chance to succeed. The TechSkills Accelerator for ITE and Polytechnics, or TIP Alliance, in short, brings together IHLs and industry partners to look beyond academic qualifications and focus on skills-based hiring.”
“Indeed, the I&C sector is one of our fastest growing sectors in our economy. The sector's workforce has grown 36%, from 130,000 professionals in 2017, to around 177,000 in 2022. Our local workforce, in particular, has increased by 42% within these past five years. In the first three quarters of 2022, total employment in the sector grew by 13,700, with thousands of vacancies still available. The increasing digitalisation across the economy has also contributed to healthy demand for tech manpower. Locals account for more than 70% of overall tech jobs in Singapore, both the tech sectors as well as non-tech sectors.Today, locals in tech jobs earn 65% above the national median wage with good wage growth. The Ministry of Education (MOE)'s recent survey showed that Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) graduates from ICT courses have higher starting median pay compared to their peers. We believe the long-term prospects for our tech workforce remains strong and we will continue to support Singaporeans in accessing these opportunities. But the tech space is a fast moving one and there are many competitors to Singapore's tech hub status. We need to help our tech workforce stay competitive and relevant for the needs of tomorrow. I would like to speak on two aspects. First, how we are working closely with industry partners to identify jobs that may be disrupted or emerging new tech roles. Secondly, we are pushing for a mindset shift within the industry towards skills-based hiring and development, rather than being overly focused on academic qualifications. On the first aspect, the I&C Jobs Transformation Map launched last year identifies the impact of emerging technological trends on the I&C workforce.”
“However, I have heard that due to uncertain economic outlook and rising costs, some bosses are thinking of slowing down the pace of digitalisation transformation. While I understand their concerns, I urge them to think twice. This is because digitalisation is like going against the flow. If you do not move forward, you will be left behind. As businesses all around the world are digitalised rapidly, if we stop for a while, we risk being overtaken by our competitors and even replaced. The Government will continue to guide and support SMEs in the next bound of the journey through the refreshed IDPs and the Digital Enterprise Blueprint, while helping safeguard your businesses against digital risks with the upcoming Cybersecurity Health Plans. (In English): We are committed to helping Singaporeans access exciting opportunities in the digital economy. Before I elaborate on our plans, let me address the points raised by Mr Sharael Taha on the recent tech lay-offs. As a major tech hub, Singapore has been impacted too. But we have fared better than many parts of the world. Southeast Asia continues to be an important market for tech companies. These firms have long-term plans to scale up their presence here. Singapore has done well to capture this growth, anchoring these companies and their higher value tech development and corporate functions here in Singapore. These roles are often considered core to the companies' business and are more resilient to broad-based headcount rationalisation. For example, the average rate of re-entry into employment of retrenched residents for the I&C sector was higher than the overall economy. Seven in 10 of retrenched locals in the I&C sector were able to find another job within six months.”
“More than 900 firms have taken the next step to engage consultants to develop their digital roadmap. More than nine in 10 expressed satisfaction with the service. Let me speak on the second prong: to keep our firms safe. Cyber threats have increased and risk wiping out years of hard work in seconds. I am pleased to announce that we will help our SMEs to develop their cybersecurity health plans to safeguard against digital risks. This is the cybersecurity equivalent of staying healthy. Prevention is better than cure. Taking proactive steps to be "healthy", such as designing solutions to minimise the risks of cyber threats. Ensuring regular check-ups or monitoring across a firm’s digital systems so that early actions can be taken. 4.45 pm Through the CTO-as-a-Service platform, SMEs can now engage cybersecurity consultants as "Chief Information Security Officers" (CISOs). These CISOs will work with the SMEs to develop tailored cybersecurity health plans based on the firm's risk profile and risk appetite. Eligible SMEs will receive up to 70% funding support. Building on this foundation, MCI will develop the Digital Enterprise Blueprint to bring these efforts together in a comprehensive roadmap which will chart the next bound effort for our Digital Economy. We will be consulting industry leaders, associations, companies, unions and other stakeholders across different sectors. Their continued support and partnership will be crucial. Mr Chairman, let me speak in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] During COVID-19, many bosses of SMEs have experienced the benefits of digitalisation. Government will continue to work with our SMEs in their digitalisation journey, especially through schemes such as the SME Go Digital and Hawkers Go Digital.”
“We launched the InvoiceNow Transaction Bonus last November. Firms which have sent 10 or more e-invoices using InvoiceNow, will receive a cash grant of $200. I encourage more firms to make full use of this bonus. At the sectoral level, we launched 20 Industry Digital Plans, or IDPs, since 2017. Eighty-five percent of SMEs told us that they registered time savings and 75% of them reduced their dependence on manual labour. We are refreshing the IDPs. I launched the refreshed Food Services IDP in November last year. This year, we will refresh the Retail IDP, the Security IDP and launch the Legal sector IDP. Mr Eric Chua and Mr Abdul Samad asked about helping the broader workforce keep up with technological changes. I am glad to share that the refreshed IDPs contain an updated Digital Training Roadmap that will guide our SMEs to upskill their workers, to allow them to make full use of the digital solutions that they adopt. At the firm level, we are helping SMEs with different levels of digital maturity, as noted by Mr Christopher de Souza. Since 2017, Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)'s SMEs Go Digital programme has supported more than 88,000 SMEs. Since the Chief Technology Officer-as-a-Service, or CTO-as-a-Service, platform was launched last year, we have steadily expanded the platform as a single touch-point for digitalisation. Today, CTO-as-a-Service provides SMEs with access to a wide range of pre-approved digital solutions, alongside IMDA's digital consultants and additional support by partners, such as SGTech, which was mentioned by Minister of State Low Yen Ling earlier. In total, more than 21,000 users have accessed CTO-as-a-Service to find appropriate resources to meet their needs.”
“Mr Chairman, the Digital Economy has generated strong growth for Singapore, in particular, the Information and Communications, or I&C, sector has grown by 13.4% and 8.6% in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Going digital is no longer a "good to have" for our firms and workforce. To stay ahead of competition and meet the needs of their customers, our firms must go digital or risk being left behind. But we are doing so from a position of strength. Ninety-three percent of our firms have adopted at least one digital solution. Firms have improved their overall digital maturity over the years. However, given the uncertain economic outlook and near-term cost pressures, firms – especially our SMEs – may be tempted to press the "pause button" on their digitalisation plans. I urge these firms to reconsider. Firms may find it difficult to catch up later. In fact, I encourage firms to press "fast forward", to deepen digital capabilities and sharpen their competitiveness during this period. The Government will support you wherever possible. Ms Jessica Tan, Ms Janet Ang and Mr Sharael Taha asked how we are helping our businesses. We will do so in two ways. First, putting in place an enabling digital ecosystem. Second, assisting our firms in staying cybersafe, even as they use digital solutions more intensively. Let me elaborate on the first prong. We are putting in place enablers at the national, sectoral and firm levels. At the national level, we are scaling up the adoption of digital utilities, like PayNow and InvoiceNow, which are foundational services that support core business functions of our firms. Since its launch in 2019, 55,000 businesses have adopted InvoiceNow, which saves an average of $8 for each error-prone and time-consuming invoice replaced.”
“As part of this process, we aim to submit our updated Plan prior to the 16th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biodiversity in 2024. So, as part of this holistic response, we will look at different suggestions and ideas. But certainly, we want to continue playing an important role as a responsible global citizen.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member for the supplementary question. I would like to reiterate Singapore's commitment to the global effort to conserve biodiversity around the world. In fact, Singapore is seen by many countries and regions as playing an active thought-leadership role within biodiversity conservation. For example, I mentioned the Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity, or the Singapore Index for short. It is one contribution Singapore has made to the collective thought-leadership on how we should look at conserving our biodiversity, especially in cities. To the point that the Member has raised on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, there are 23 action targets under this Framework. For example, there are targets looking at integrating biodiversity as part of spatial planning in cities and countries; looking at ensuring urgent management to halt human-induced extinction of known threatened species in our environment, and so on and so forth. These 23 targets are all very ambitious, meaningful and worthwhile targets. The "30 by 30" is one of the targets, Target 3 under the Framework, and Singapore is actively contributing to that global target. In fact, as part of an earlier Parliamentary Question (PQ) by another Member Mr Louis Ng, we also shared with the House that National Parks Board (NParks) is working closely with relevant agencies and stakeholders – for example, our local biodiversity groups and different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – to update our National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, and to develop national targets to further contribute to this Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Singapore will work closely with other countries to support and implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at the UN Biodiversity Conference in December 2022. Countries are expected to contribute towards the global targets under this Framework according to their national circumstances, priorities and capabilities. For example, Singapore contributes towards regional conservation efforts by sharing our technical expertise in areas such as protected area management and conservation. We have also designated the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve as ASEAN Heritage Parks under the ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme, which recognises these as protected areas of high conservation importance. As a responsible global citizen, Singapore will continue to play our part, while taking into account our unique circumstances as a small, densely populated city state. As part of our City in Nature efforts, we are safeguarding more green spaces where possible, establishing additional nature parks, and restoring core habitats. The Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity assists cities worldwide to monitor the progress of their conservation efforts.”
“Mr Speaker, the short answer is, of course, we will review all local and international best practices. I sympathise and empathise with where the Member is coming from. Every time we read about cases of animal cruelty or abuse, we take those very seriously and we investigate. However, just to clarify, based on our data, we have not observed an increase in the number of animal cruelty and abuse cases over the last few years. The number of feedback on animal cases has increased, partly because of greater public awareness of such issues. Our NParks officers and our relevant officers who are delegated the powers to investigate, look into every single feedback seriously. By far, the large majority of all the feedback is not related to animal abuse or cruelty. In fact, most of the time, they are feedback around nuisance about animals, for example, poor hygiene, smell or sometime, just neighbourly disputes. A very small proportion of the feedback is related to animal cruelty. Having said that, there are indeed real challenges in terms of investigating those cases. The challenges include, for example, a lack of eyewitnesses or direct evidence, for example, CCTV footage, or that carcasses have been disposed for some time and post-mortem analysis is not possible, or that cases are not reported or are reported late. That is where we work very closely with the animal welfare groups. They are valuable partners and stakeholders in this effort, raising public awareness, looking into those issues and making sure that cases are followed up quickly and expeditiously. So, I thank the Member for his suggestions and feedback. This is something we will continue to look at. 12.04 pm”
“Mr Speaker, under the Animals and Birds Act, there are regulations and enforcement powers in place to safeguard animal welfare. Beyond putting in place laws and regulations, we take a multi-stakeholder approach to prevent cruelty to animals. For example, we work closely with stakeholders such as animal welfare groups and veterinarians to raise public awareness on responsible pet ownership. We also take a serious view of all acts of animal cruelty. NParks investigates all feedback on animal abuse and will not hesitate to take the appropriate enforcement action. As of now, we do not plan to confer enforcement powers to non-governmental organisations. However, we will study and learn from international best practices where appropriate, as we review and update our regulations.”
“Mr Speaker, I would like to assure the Member that safety and quality are two areas that we will not compromise on. Even as we bring forward and we work together very closely with the construction industry – from the main contractor to the sub-contractor to various other partners in specialist trades, for example – in making sure that our BTO projects are proceeding at a steady pace, we are very mindful of the quality of the build and also the safety of the worksites. The last thing we want is for accidents to happen resulting in the unfortunate losses of life. These are two areas that we will not compromise on: the quality of the build, as well as safety at the worksites. I would like to assure Mr Murali Pillai on the point about acceleration costs. It is a little bit of a technical term in the industry where we pay the contractor to put in additional resources and, thus, incur additional cost to bring forward and accelerate the completion of their construction contracts. In this case, we are in a slightly different situation where we are working very closely with the contractors and the builders to ensure that existing projects continue at pace, at a steady stead, per milestone. They have gone through very tough times over the last two and half years – supply shocks, manpower shortages and many other shocks due to situations outside their control; COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and Russia, and so on. It is a very different situation whereby the contractors actually have the luxury to bring in additional resources by working closely and collaboratively to streamline the processes across the entire build and value chain, to make sure that work continues safely while not compromising on quality.”
“Mr Speaker, as the construction industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has made steady progress in delivering Build-To-Order (BTO) projects to our home buyers. In January 2023, we have reduced the proportion of BTO projects delayed beyond the Estimated Completion Date (ECD) from about 90% in 2021, to about 40%. HDB's ongoing and future BTO construction projects that have been announced to date are planned, based on the estimated completion dates indicated during the BTO launches. Notwithstanding efforts made to keep up the supply of BTOs to meet the strong housing demand, HDB has been able to meet these completion dates without incurring acceleration costs. To reduce construction delays, HDB has been working closely with our contractors and agency partners to put in place extensive measures. These include sourcing for workers overseas for contractors to address manpower shortages and streamlining processes to expedite approvals. Overall, these collective efforts have enabled HDB to deliver more homes to flat buyers thus far and minimise delays without compromising safety and quality.”
“Mr Speaker, to Member Assoc Prof Jamus' question about tolerable timeframe, from HDB's point of view and I think many of us – as Members of Parliament and advisors – face these complaints or feedback from residents. We want to resolve those issues as quickly as possible, understanding that it causes disamenities and inconveniences to residents, especially in the lower floor. But many of these cases requires both parties to come together. HDB can play a role to facilitate, to bring conversations together, but there may be real challenges in getting both parties to meet and talk. For those issues, I urge all parties to come to an amicable resolution, that is what the GRA scheme is meant to help, to incentivise the resolution of the conclusion with HDB coming forward to pay 50% of the costs. So, I do encourage all Members of Parliament and advisors to speak to your residents, engage them, and if need be, please rope in the Town Councils and approach HDB. We will look at it on a case-by-case basis and try to help as much as we can.”
“Mr Speaker, the Member Mr Gan ask about – if my understanding is correct – the ceiling leaks, where under the HDB lease, the maintenance of party structure, the joint responsibility of both the upper and lower floor flat owners. And when there is a leak, due to wear and tear, both parties would have to rectify the leak and share the repair cost. Nonetheless, HDB, through the Goodwill Repair Assistance (GRA) scheme try to provide some help to both the flat owners at the upper floor and the lower floor. The main objective of the GRA scheme is to assist flat owners particularly for ceiling leaks where some upper and lower floor flat owners face difficulty in reaching an agreement in getting a contractor to carry out repairs. The GRA scheme was implemented administratively since April 2001, and HDB arranges for repair works and co-pays 50% of the cost, and the other remaining 50% will be co-shared between the upper floor and the lower floor flat owners, kept at $300 per repair location. I do not have details about the cases where enforcement investigation has undertaken, and to the Member's question about when such cases have gone further than having a conversation, if the Member would like, he can file a separate Parliamentary Question on that.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for her supplementary question. Firstly, I must assure the Member that we empathise with the situation of those flat unit owners. For those few flats that the Member mentioned, we are in close contact with the flat owners, as well as the Town Councils to look at some of the issues. Some of these cases are for older flats, more than a few decades old, there will be wear and tear and there could be multiple sources of the water seepage which could be from external facade, or could be from the floor slabs or ceilings or could be due to other reasons. And for those cases, we have been working very closely with the Town Councils, as well as the flat owner to carry out tests, to identify the sources of leaks, to recommend methods and procedures to try to rectify the situation. And my assurance to the Member is that HDB will continue to work very closely with the Town Councils and the flat owners to rectify and resolve those issues. So, I give my assurance to the Member that we will continue working on those. Her other question is around the research into material, these are areas that HDB has been investing in for a number of years – over more than a decade of research into materials – into how we can resolve some of these common issues that we see in HDB blocks.”
“Mr Speaker, water seepage in the Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats could come from various sources such as from the external wall or from the flat above. This is due to wear and tear of joints at the external walls, or waterproofing of the ceiling or floors over time. As the external walls of HDB blocks are common property, Town Councils are responsible for investigating and repairing external wall leaks reported to them. For leaks in the ceiling or floor slabs between two flats, it is the responsibility of lower and upper floor flat owners to collectively resolve the situation. For challenging and complex cases, that usually involve multiple sources of leaks, Town Councils or residents may approach HDB for advice. As water seepage issues can be resolved once the sources of leaks have been identified and repair works are duly carried out, there are no plans for HDB to offer compensation or to buy back the flats.”
“Financial investment in a property or buying and selling properties is a big financial investment for many families. Please do take time to look at the various resources on CEA's website. They have a very comprehensive guide, in four languages, guiding the consumers on deciding if you need an agent; how to ensure your agent is properly registered with CEA; how to negotiate agent's commissions; how to look at the various agreements, including what agreements needs to be signed between the real estate salesperson and yourself; and understanding the agent's responsibilities and obligations, and how money is to be handled. So, I encourage those who are buying or selling properties, especially those doing for the first time, please do go to CEA's website and check out the different resources.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for the two supplementary questions. Let me take them in turn. Let me first clarify that the use of EAA is not mandatory. Consumers are encouraged to sign the agreement with their property agencies and agents to protect the interests of both parties, but it is not mandatory. In fact, many property sellers and buyers DIY, and do it themselves, and do not appoint an agent. To Dr Tan Wu Meng's question about best practices and informed consent, CEA takes seriously, its responsibility in upholding the professional standards in the real estate agency industry and its primary responsibility of safeguarding consumers' interests. That is why I mentioned in my reply earlier, that an estate agent or the real estate salesperson, the technical term, is expected and required to explain the content of the agreement to the buyer or seller before the agreement is signed. A breach of that can be investigated and penalties can be imposed against the real estate agent. On consumer awareness, I mentioned it earlier, but allow me to elaborate and set in context Dr Tan's case about his resident. I appreciate and empathise where Dr Tan is coming from, but in context, we have received very, very few complaints against real estate salesperson on the use of an exclusive or non-exclusive agreement – less than 1% of all the cases we received over the last five years. So, very few complaints against real estate salesperson, on this particular point. There are other complaints and they are the more egregious ones about conflict of interest or inappropriate handling of the client's money, which are important other considerations that we have in investigating the real estate salesperson.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, an Estate Agency Agreement (EAA) is a contract between a consumer and a property agency and agent for the performance of estate agency work. The agreement protects the interests of both parties by providing contractual clarity in the property transaction. Under the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA)'s Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care, a property agent must explain the meaning and consequences of the agreement to the client and give the client sufficient time to read and understand the content, so that the client can make an informed decision whether to enter into the agreement with the agent. Property agents who fail to do so may be issued a warning letter, imposed with financial penalties of up to $100,000 and/or have their registration suspended or revoked. There is no specific requirement for a property agent to advise the client on the options between an exclusive and a non-exclusive agreement. In addition, CEA actively promotes consumer education. CEA continues to work with relevant agencies, for example, HDB and CASE, and the real estate agency sector and online property portals to educate property consumers about the purpose of signing an estate agency agreement, the differences between an exclusive and a non-exclusive agreement, and consumers' obligations under each type of agreement. Consumers are advised to choose and sign the type of estate agency agreement based on their needs and preferences.”
“And perhaps I will just quote one of the points that was made in The Straits Times article by the authors of the study, "The most surprising aspect of our findings is that the Johor and Singapore Straits remain viable habitats for dugongs, despite being among the busiest shipping channels globally." I think that is really a testament to our partnership, not just across Government agencies, but also the support and commitment of so many community partners and groups that work on this area. So, I would like to thank them as well and appreciate their efforts.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Member for the two supplementary questions. On the first point about whether there are inter-governmental groups or existing platforms to bring some of these efforts together, even as we think about looking at the survey results, the answer is yes. I talked about the Friends of Marine Park in my earlier reply to Mr Louis Ng's question, but I would also like to bring the Member's attention to what we are doing under the Integrated Urban Coastal Management framework which we initiated in 2009. Efforts between Government agencies are ongoing and progressing as we talk about many of these issues. Allow me to give some context to the answer. NParks adopts a science-based approach to strengthen the conservation of our native marine biodiversity and these efforts are already guided by our Nature Conservation Masterplan which we released earlier. To complement this, we have strict laws governing the management of both land- and sea-based sources of pollution, which answers Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin's question. Furthermore, under the Integrated Urban Coastal Management framework, we take a whole-of-Government approach to ensure that our marine environments are protected, even within one of the world's busiest port areas. To address Mr Louis Ng and Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin's questions, and the underlying points they are making, it is actually a testament to the effective management of pollution within our waters that we see such a thriving marine biodiversity. I think some Members would have read The Straits Times article about the sighting of endangered dugongs in Singapore's waters, despite our shipping traffic.”
“The conversations with the marine groups and the community partners are ongoing. In fact, we just started a major exercise in January 2020 and the survey results will inform us on some of the areas that we can look at for other marine conservation efforts. So, that is the reply to the second part of your question.”
“Firstly, let me thank the Member for his questions. Let me reply in two parts. The first part is the role of the community. The Member has asked how we are engaging them and involving them in the various activities or consultation. The second part is about the other areas that we are considering designating as marine parks. Let me talk about the role of the community first. The community plays an important role in NParks' marine conservation efforts. For example, in order to help NParks manage the Sisters' Islands Marine Park as a place for all, we set up the Friends of Marine Park (FoMP) community in 2016. It comprises boaters, divers, dive operators, scientists, fishers, kayakers and education providers – a whole range of community partners from academia, industry and people who use the area for recreation and enjoy the space there. The FoMP provides a platform for various stakeholders to come together to play a more active role in marine conservation efforts at the marine park through ground-up initiatives and programmes. So, it is not just about consultation on issues, but also activities that we do together with the community partners, including talks, seminars, workshops, guided nature tours as well as various citizen science activities. In January 2020, just a couple of years ago, just before COVID-19, NParks initiated a Southern Islands Biodiversity Survey in partnership with the academic community, nature interest groups and citizen scientists. The survey will help NParks to better understand the distribution of plants and animals in the Southern Islands and guide its conservation strategies for marine habitats in Singapore. NParks expects the survey to be completed by the end of 2023.”
“Members have asked whether the Government is considering designating additional protected marine spaces. In 2014, we established the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park, which includes the western reefs of St John’s Island and Pulau Tekukor, to promote conservation, research, outreach and sustainable nature-based recreation in this area. In designating the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park, we considered the area’s marine biodiversity, its wide range of marine habitats and its ecological functions. We also considered other factors, such as the area’s accessibility and its existing use. NParks will continue to research the ecological status and functions of our marine areas and study how best to protect them, including considering additional marine parks. For instance, through the Marine Climate Change Science programme, we are collaborating with research institutes and industry partners to study the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems and to develop relevant solutions. We will continue to work closely with the marine community on these matters.”